Aiming High- will you be a part of it?

WE'RE HIRING.

Bastows have a great year ahead and will grow our business considerably in 2014. Our plan this year is to 'Aim High' and that means recruiting the best people for key roles.

BUILDING SURVEYOR

We are seeking a qualified, can-do Building Surveyor to help with the increasing number of tenders we are sent by clients hoping to work with us, and help manage the works once underway.

Our projects are largely external repair and redecoration projects ranging from £50,000 to £1m in value, and lasting anything from 8 weeks to a year in duration.

We work with prestigious clients and the residents of some of London's landmark homes.

We are looking for someone with a relevant degree in Building Surveying for this role which attracts a good salary commensurate with skills and experience. There are numerous other benefits including the knowledge that you're working with (we don't mind saying) an AWESOME team in an award winning family business.

Professionalism, organisation and the ability to build great relationships are essential.

The role is based in SW1 with projects located around Central London. 

The ideal candidate will have at least 3 years' experience in a similar role, show enthusiasm and passion for their profession, be aligned with our values and purpose, and be willing to learn.

OFFICE LEGEND

We thought about 'Office Assistant' and 'Office Adminstrator', but the person we want is so much more than that. We need a LEGEND.

Not only someone who can help with day-to-day admin tasks such as arranging licences for scaffolds or ordering stationery, but someone with a really positive outlook and drive to develop the role to support our Contracts Director and Managing Director (and become indispensible to them) and pick up tasks using initiative and observation. 

The perfect person will need a great standard of spoken and written English, excellent IT skills including Word, Excel and email, a great sense of humour, a 'can-do' approach, the ability to prioritise and a sense of doing the right thing. The plan is for them to become a trusted 'gatekeeper', ensuring the Directors are focused on their jobs- and not answering emails.

The ideal candidate will also be developing the role to support our Cultural Director, developing an even stronger strategy for our resident care programme, learning the skills needed for an HR Administrator, and supporting residents when they contact us with questions or concerns.

The role is based in SW1, and comes with a competitive salary, good benefits and the satisfaction of working for London's most employee-friendly construction company!

Interested? Call Niki on 020 7259 9513 or email your CV to niki@bastows.co.uk. 

Bastows aims high with a commitment to fair pay

Bastows has today become one of the first organisations in the region to become an accredited Living Wage Employer.

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, based on the cost living in the UK. The Living Wage campaign has been running for ten years and has lifted over 45,000 people out of poverty.

An independent study of the business benefits of implementing a Living Wage policy in London found that more than 80% of employers believe that the Living Wage had enhanced the quality of the work of their staff, while absenteeism had fallen by approximately 25%. 66% of employers reported a significant impact on recruitment and retention within their organisation. 70% of employers felt that the Living Wage had increased consumer awareness of their organisation’s commitment to be an ethical employer.

Elvis and Andrew celebrate the news

Niki Rosenbaum, Cultural Director, says “Paying the Living Wage is a proven way to grow staff loyalty, productivity and happiness. Most importantly, it shows that a business is prepared to do the right thing by its people. We believe that every member of staff deserves a Living Wage, and hope other local businesses join us in showing a clear commitment to fair pay and respect for their employees.”

Rhys Moore, Director of the Living Wage Foundation said “The benefits the Living Wage brings to staff and business are clear. I welcome the leadership shown by Bastows on this important issue.”

Bastows have been accredited by the Living Wage Foundation for paying all employees a minimum of the London Living Wage rate of £8.80 per hour.

You can find out more about the Living Wage by visiting www.livingwage.org.uk

The Living Wage is backed by the Government, Her Majesty’s Opposition, the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly.

PRESS CONTACTS

Contact Niki Rosenbaum for further information at niki@bastows.co.uk, via Twitter @BastowsFamily or by phone on 020 7259 9513

Bastows 50

It's been a busy year here as we celebrated our 50th year of Making London Beautiful.

Not only did we receive awards, get recognition for what we do and share success, we were able to grow our family with new members too.

We have worked on some amazing properties, restoring the beauty in homes around London from Borough to Camden and everywhere in between.

We have seen history made, and played our own small part in marking the passing of time and events we have shared.

Our new family members Andrew and Liam joined the crew in April and December; so far they don't look too frightened, so that's positive.





















We have completed a huge project at Cundy Street SW1, delighting the client and winning the thanks and trust of all who live there. It was a delight to meet them all and leave them with such a positive impression of our industry.


Our environmental commitment continued to develop, with new initiatives and ideas coming from every area of the business, and a growing dedication to protecting our communities through our charitable support for diverse organisations doing good around our city.












We were delighted to be recognised with membership of Constructing Better Health, to be listed in the Building Good Employer Guide for 2013, and awarded by Family Business Place and Family Business United as a UK Family Business of the Year amongst some serious household names and longstanding companies.






We revamped our LPG vans with a logo befitting our anniversary, and invested some 20% more in training and development than in 2012. 

We have enjoyed some excellent nights out, worn silly masks, sung along to show tunes and been friends as well as colleagues.

Our summer picnic may have been rained off (and thanks to Frank for opening his home so the celebrations could continue) but it came with a lot of laughs and left us happy, proud and feeling part of exciting times for the family. It also left some of the kids present with a burning desire to get a puppy after Niki bought hers along... and he proved a livewire.

Commitment and Courage

Our year has been filled with welcome challenges, happiness, achievement (both persona and business) and a lot of bad jokes courtesy of Andy Raz.

Our commitment to each other and to our clients has grown stronger than ever in recent years- as we have always said, tough times don't last, but tough people do.


Peace of Mind

Our clients have been great this year- developing new ways of working and delivering Peace of Mind for them has been something we have loved getting our teeth into. Thank you to them all for being inimitable and supportive of what we do.

What's success if you don't share it?

We kept giving: Frank topped all the efforts and raised over £6,000 walking 100km in 24 hours for the Construction Youth Trust, while we donated Christmas gifts to SSAFA Norton House, the Metropolitan Police appeal for gifts for children spending Christmas in care, and cash gifts to Shelter, The Trussell Trust, First Touch neonatal care unit and Crisis.

All in all, we've had a blast, and are absolutely ready for what the New Year has in store- so bring it on, baby! 





2013 has certainly been a year to remember, and we wish you all a memorable, peaceful and joyous Christmas and New Year.

Red, Blue and Black- got to catch them all!

The best things come in threes- and our swanky new enamel badges are no exception. 

We will award them for exceptional effort in the three areas of the business, with the winner of a full set receiving a bonus payment as a thank you for helping make our values a reality.

So far only one man has earned a full set- the brilliant Paul Walsh, who has worked with us since 2008 to help develop our team. 

Want one? Show us great effort to live our values- to be Brave, Harmonious and True- or to deliver Peace of Mind for clients, colleagues and residents and you'll be justly rewarded with a shiny bit of kit that recognises your effort, and probably Raz will make you a cup of tea too.

So come on guys and girls... I KNOW you're feeling competitive..!

Good Employer? Yes we are!

GREAT NEWS- I just took a call that confirms that we are one of the top fifty companies who will be appearing in the Building Good Employers Guide this year. 

The Building Good Employer Guide is a celebration of the best companies to work for in the construction industry. Now in it’s 7^th year, the guide identifies the top companies of 2013 based on key factors such as employee benefits, diversity and leadership.

The guide recognises companies that show:

o   Consideration of employees’ personal welfare

o   Dedication to Employee development

o   Promotion of motivation, training and pastoral care.

It is a great achievement to be listed in the guide and a really nice feeling that it's come about due to honest and direct feedback from our people to the assessors. We thank every member of our team that gave their time to complete the survey so honestly and completely.

The fact that we are recognised in this way in our 50th year of Making London beautiful makes our celebrations all the sweeter- and our smiles wider than ever.

Now let's make sure we're in there every year!

Feet of flame!

Get ready for a new Hero of the week. No, month. At LEAST.

Before...

Frank Bastow did it. He completed the Thames Path Challenge, walking 100km in 23 hours 19 minutes.

In the process, he raised £5,580 for the Construction Youth Trust.

AMAZEBALLS, frankly. 

He managed to tweet on his way to keep us updated on his progress and has thankfully spared us photos of his feet since the day. 

and after. Weirdly, he's still smiling.

However he is threatening to send them to us to blog here if you don't donate.

Please... think of our sanity. Think of the children. Think of those of us who have all given generously and should be spared such horrific images.

Now... please go and give what you can.

Bastows at the Red Ribbon Awards 2013

We are delighted to share the news that at the Red Ribbon Awards on Friday 5 July, Bastows were Commended for Excellence as a Family Business of the Year.

We were shortlisted in two categories, 'Customer First' (won by Harry Harper Estate Agents) and recognised as a 'Family Business of the Year.' The great team at East End Foods were honoured as overall winners in that category, but we were thrilled to be runners-up- not bad when you consider this is a national award that saw the judges consider hundreds of submissions and narrowed the finalists to just six outstanding businesses.

We were proud to welcome our family and friends to the event to share in our success and support the chosen charities by bidding in the charity auction- helping to get the money raised up on more than a few lots and winning two of them!

You can read more here.